


on time and in tune

by OfMythsAndMen



Category: IT (Movies - Muschietti), IT - Stephen King
Genre: Fluff, M/M, Maybe a tiny bit of angst, a very small bit
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-13
Updated: 2019-09-13
Packaged: 2020-10-17 21:49:12
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,197
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20628071
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/OfMythsAndMen/pseuds/OfMythsAndMen
Summary: Richie holds out a piece of paper, which Eddie takes and glances at. An invitation to a 'party' tomorrow.Eddie almost cries.eddie findsmore thana family amongst richie and his friends





	on time and in tune

Eddie’s new upstairs neighbour has been fine up until now. He’s barely heard a peep from them, not until now. At 11 PM on a Monday night of all times. Maybe he’d have been a lot more lenient at the weekend, when he’d be able to sleep in later to make up his eight hours every night, but he has work tomorrow and how is he supposed to concentrate if he’s sleep-deprived? He’s read one too many articles about what sleep deprivation does to your body and he really, really doesn’t want any of that going on with him.

So when the footsteps and loud music doesn’t cease by 11:30, he dons his robe and his slippers and takes the stairs. He really doesn’t like confrontation, and he wouldn’t do this is he didn’t need to. By all means, his upstairs neighbour should be able to live his life the way he wants to, but maybe not on a weeknight in a block of flats.

All that Eddie can hope is that his neighbour isn’t hostile towards him. He’s been witness to, thankfully from the safety of his flat, plenty of fights over noise. It’s not his intention to start anything; he just wants to get tomy sleep. He doesn’t think that that’s too much to ask for.

It’s a lot louder up here, Eddie notes as he reaches the top of the stairwell, how has nobody up here complained yet? Or, maybe that have and the neighbour just hasn’t taken any notice.

He takes a deep breath and knocks. Things carry on for a moment, and Eddie considers heading back downstairs and just trying his best to sleep through this, but then things quieten down and the door is pulled open and—

Holy _shit _his upstairs neighbour is hot.

“Um,” the man’s voice breaks him out of his thoughts. “Did you need anything?”

“Uh, yeah. Yeah, sorry,” Eddie stutters. “Um. I live below you and I was wondering if maybe you’d be able to keep it down up here? It’s just that I have work tomorrow and—”

“Sure thing,” the man cuts him off. “We didn’t realise how late it was, sorry. I’ll...”

Eddie can’t focus on anything but the man’s face. Dark brown eyes that seemed to suck Eddie in, curly hair, a tiny bit of stubble…

He jumps as he feels someone flick him on the tip of his nose.

“You okay, neighbour?” The man grins, and God, it’s a smile that Eddie wants to see again and again.

“Uh, yeah,” Eddie clears his throat. “Yeah, I’m fine. Just tired. I’m Eddie by the way, Eddie Kaspbrak.”

“Richie Tozier,” the man holds out his hand. Eddie half expects that jolt of electricity everybody talks about in books as he shakes it, but nothing actually happens. He can’t help but be a little bit disappointed. “You’re directly below me?”

Eddie nods. “I live in 416.”

“I see,” Richie says. “Sorry again, man. We’ll quieten down. I hope you have a good shift tomorrow.”

“Thanks,” Eddie smiles. “I will. Goodnight, Richie Tozier.”

“Night, Eddie Kaspbrak.”

* * *

True to his word, Richie and whoever he had over did quieten down. Eddie manages to get over his eight hours, and goes to work the next day in a good mindset. He works until 5 PM, and then he clocks out and stops by a small coffee shop on the way home.

  


Richie Tozier seems to have had the same idea, standing in the queue three people ahead.

  


But he moves when he sees Eddie, lets the three people in front of him go and stands in front of Eddie with this goofy grin.

  


“Hey neighbour,” he smiles and it takes Eddie’s mind a few seconds longer to process, too caught up in how good this man looked. Even after, presumably eight, hours of work.

  


“Hi,” Eddie says, giving him a small wave. “Fancy seeing you here.”

  


“It’s my favourite,” Richie says. “What do you want? It’s on me for keeping you up last night.”

  


“Are you sure?” Eddie asks. Richie nods. “I usually just get a caramel latte. Thanks.”

  


“It’s no problem,” Richie shrugs. “Again, I’m sorry for keeping you up. I had a couple of friends over I haven’t seen in a while, so we were a little bit excited I guess. How was work?”

  


“It was good, yeah,” Eddie nods. “And don’t worry about it. I still got my eight hours, so it’s all good.”

  


“Just as long as you don’t hate me,” Richie winks, and Eddie almost melts into the floor.

  


“Never,” Eddie lets out a laugh once he’s gathered his thoughts. “You’re a lot better than the family who lived up there before you. Had, like, three kids that they used to let run wild at all times.”

  


“The worst,” Richie agrees, and steps up to pay. He turns to Eddie. “sitting in or to go?”

  


They end up sitting in a small table in the corner, and it’s something out of a movie, Eddie thinks. It can’t be a crush, he’s only known Richie for less than twenty-four hours, but he’s definitely attracted to him/ And then there’s Richie, just trying to be a good person, with no idea of how Eddie feels at all.

  


Would he be freaked out? Eddie doesn’t know. Probably, though, especially with the little time that they’ve known each other. He’d probably go running if Eddie told him, and Eddie wouldn’t blame him.

  


But he’d miss him. Especially if his next upstairs neighbour was as much of a terror as the first. Or a single woman.

  


That’s a point; is Richie even single? He’s sure that he heard a woman’s voice up there last night, although that could have just been one of the friends that he had over. There’s no wedding ring when Eddie takes what he hopes is a discreet look, but that doesn’t exactly mean anything. Maybe they’re just not ready to take it to the next step yet. He can’t judge. He hasn’t dated anyone in years.

  


“So,” Richie says, breaking him from his thoughts once again. “How long have you lived in the building?”

  


“Going on four years now, I think,” Eddie says. “It’s nice. The rent is relatively cheap and it’s close to everything. My neighbours aren’t too bad, either.” And he’d meant it about his next-door neighbours, but it’s clear that Richie takes it the other way with a quick laugh.

  


“Apart from your upstairs neighbour,” he laughs. “He’s a right dickhead, trust me, I would know,” he takes a sip of his drink. “So, is it just you?”

  


“Yep,” Eddie nods.

  


“It’s just me too,” Richie says. “You get lonely?”

  


“Sometimes,” Eddie shrugs. “Like on the weekends or holidays and stuff. Thanksgiving in a few weeks will probably suck. But not a lot. I find socialising at work is enough for me most days. What about you?”

  


“I mean, yeah,” Richie nods. “I have a good group of friends, but we’re scattered around so we don’t get to see each other very often. And when we do, it’s kinda chaos. But work isn’t very fulfilling. I’m a radio station host, so I’m technically talking to hundreds of people, but not really, you know? And to go from the station where something’s happening all the time to my apartment where it’s _so _quiet… it can be jarring sometimes.”

  


“That sucks.”

  


“I’m sorry, man,” Richie shakes his head. “We barely know each other. I shouldn’t be telling you shit like this.”

  


“It’s alright,” Eddie says. “I don’t mind.”

  


“You’re a good man, Eddie Kaspbrak.”

  


“Thanks,” Eddie smiles. “I try.”

* * *

He doesn’t see Richie again for the next few days. Work is extra busy, so he’s pulling extra shifts and stupid hours.

  


He’s grateful for the break that the weekend will give him. A chance to recharge and catch up on the many chores that he has to do.

  


It won’t be as bad as the weekends in his childhood. Trapped in the house with his nutcase of a mother who wouldn’t let him have people over for the fear of getting germs in the house, or let him go out in case he caught something. He’d spend hours of his Saturday staring up at the ceiling, bored out of his mind, or sat on the stairs trying to listen in to whatever his mom was watching on TV.

  


He shudders even thinking about it. About the crushing loneliness of his childhood. Although, when he thinks about it, Eddie isn’t really all that different. Especially not his weekends. He spends more time in front of the screen now that his mom can’t tell him not to, and the only reason he doesn’t lie in bed and stare up at the ceiling is that he’s too overwhelmed with chores and errands.

  


He’s so distracted that he doesn’t hear the knock on his door, and isn’t aware that anyone’s even then before Richie calls through his letterbox.

  


“Hey, Eddie Spaghetti, you in there?”

  


“Don’t call me Eddie Spaghetti,” Eddie calls back once his heart has stopped hammering, only a little startled. He gets up from his seat, crossing the hallway in a few strides before he pulls open the door.

  


Richie holds out a piece of paper, which Eddie takes and glances at. An invitation to a 'party' tomorrow.

  


Eddie almost cries.

  


“I did say that it would be enough just to come down and ask you, but my friend Stan said I had to give you an invitation, too,” Richie shrugs. “But, uh, my friends and I are having a little get together tomorrow if you’d like to come? It’ll be nothing fancy, and it’s not really a party. I just didn’t know what to call it, y’know. There will probably be a little bit of alcohol, but nothing too crazy. We’ll just play _Mario Kart _or watch a movie or something.”

  


“I’ll be there,” Eddie nods, holding back tears. It’s so stupid for him to get so excited over something so little, but he can’t help it. “Thanks, Richie. It, uh, it means a lot.”

* * *

“It’s Eddie!” Richie announces as Eddie steps into the flat, and there’s a cheer from the living room.

  


He can hardly believe his luck. From being pretty much alone for the past few years, to now being with a group of people who seem to actually want to be with him—he doesn’t dwell on the fact that, technically, the people don’t know him at all, because either way, they’ve still made an effort to include him in their plans.

  


The first hour or so is made up of introductions and polite small talk. He tries to remember everyone’s names—there’s Ben, Bev, Bill, Mike and Stan—and so far so good. He learns all about them and their childhood with Richie, and Eddie is more than invested in the stories that they tell.

  


“One time we got in a rock fight,” Bev laughs, leaning back on Richie’s couch. “It was with this group of absolute assholes—”

  


“God,” Richie groans. “Bowers and his friends used to terrorise us.”

  


“They did, but they didn’t mess with us as much afterwards,” Bev nods.

  


“There’s a reason for that,” Stan says darkly.

  


“Right,” Bev says. “But I’m trying to tell Eddie about the time we kicked their asses in a rock fight,” there’s a few laughs. “Anyway, Richie took a rock to the face and it was the funniest thing.”

  


“Well I kept chucking rocks after that,” Richie shrugs, handing Eddie a glass of water. “So, hey, it might have been funny but how many other people would take a rock to the face and keep going?”

  


“Lit-literally everyone h-h-here,” Bill stutters. “Even E-Eddie, right?”

  


“Uh, I guess so,” he shrugs. Probably not, actually, but he’s not willing to admit that. “Sorry, Richie, you’re not special.”

  


“And I thought you were a good guy,” Richie pouts, looking absolutely adorable in Eddie’s opinion.

  


“He is,” Mike grins, wrapping an arm around Eddie’s shoulder. “In fact, we like him more than we like you.”

  


“First you steal my heart, then you steal my friends,” Richie huffs, trying to fight back a smile ashe crosses his arms. Eddie thinks his own heart has stopped as soon as the words set in.

  


Richie looks shocked, and the room falls silent. Eddie shifts uncomfortable, aware of all the attention on him. He has to play it off. But it’s a good way to let Richie know about Eddie’s feelings, too...

  


“Well,” he says, after a few seconds of desperately trying to come up with something. “If I’d know that that was how you’d felt about me, I wouldn’t have waited this long to ask you on a date,” he feels heat rising to his cheeks. “The Hideaway, tomorrow at 7:30?”

  


He hears the whoops and the hollers of the Loser’s Club behind him, patting him on the back and congratulating him. But he’s too caught up on the two words that Richie utters, cheeks red, visibly flustered.

  


“Yeah sure,” he says.

  


_Yeah sure, _Eddie repeats in his mind, _yeah sure. _

  


Eddie Kaspbrak has a _date. _

**Author's Note:**

> thank you for reading, and for the love shown on my other oneshot in this fandom!  
my tumblr: [ of-myths-and-men](https://of-myths-and-men.tumblr.com/)


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